 | |
| Alternative names | Ginseng chicken soup |
|---|---|
| Type | Tang |
| Place of origin | Korea |
| Serving temperature | Hot or warm |
| Main ingredients | Chicken,quail,ginseng |
| Ingredients generally used | Jujube,glutinous rice |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 삼계탕 |
| Hanja | 蔘鷄湯 |
| RR | samgyetang |
| MR | samgyet'ang |
| IPA | [sam.ɡje̞.tʰaŋ] |
Samgye-tang (Korean: 삼계탕), or "ginseng chicken soup"[1] is atang (Korean soup) that consists primarily of a whole youngchicken (poussin) orquail filled with garlic, rice,jujube andginseng.[2] It is traditionally considered to be a health food.[3]Samgye-tang is a representative summer health food. Soup made with chicken that is slightly larger than the chick is calledyeonggye baeksuk, and the chicken is divided into half is calledbanggye-tang.
During theJoseon period (1392–1897), people enjoyed the numerous chicken soup dishes that were similar tosamgye-tang, includingyeongye-tang,chonggye-tang, andhwanggye-tang.[4] While it was the custom to make a soup with young chicken and serve it to elders during the summer days, the chicken boiled withmilkvetch roots and its broth were served to the sick queen duringKing Injo's reign.[5] However, the description of the dish that most closely resembles today's form ofsamgye-tang can be found inJoseon yorijaebeop (조선 요리제법;朝鮮料理製法), the cookbook. Bang Sin-yeong, a professor ofEwha Womans University, wrote in 1917 to compile the information on how to make various traditional dishes of Joseon. In the book, it is described thatdakguk (닭국), or chicken soup, is made by gutting a chicken and stuffing the inside with three spoons of glutinous rice and one spoon of ginseng powder, followed by tying up the opening and boiling the chicken with ten bowls of water.[4] During the Japanese colonial era, the Japanese officials who investigated the cultures of former Joseon noted that rich families boiled the chicken stuffed with ginseng and used the broth as medicine in summer.[6]
The dish began to be commercially sold at restaurants around 1940s and under the namegyesam-tang (계삼탕;鷄蔘湯) in 1950s, which meant chicken ginseng soup.[6] With the supplying of modernrefrigerators in Korea, it became possible to preserve a ginseng as whole instead of powder.[6][7] Thus, since 1960s, it became more common to stuff the chicken with a whole piece of ginseng instead of powder, reaching today's form of the dish.[6][7] To emphasize the medicinal effects of the ginseng in the soup, many people since then have started calling the dishsamgye-tang (ginseng chicken soup) instead ofgyesam-tang (chicken ginseng soup).[6]
It is the custom in Korea to eatsamgye-tang during hotsummer days in order to replenish the nutrients that were lost through the sweating and physical activities.[8] It is especially popular to eat this chicken soup onsambok (삼복) days, which are three distinct days of the lunar calendar—chobok (초복),jungbok (중복), andmalbok (말복)—commonly among the hottest and most sultry summer days in Korea.[2][9]
Some specialty restaurants in South Korea serve onlysamgyetang, having gained local popularity through their special recipes for the dish, which are often kept assecrets. The dish is sometimes accompanied by a small complimentary bottle ofinsam-ju (ginseng wine) in certain restaurants.[10][11]
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